Year 1 of Ravenclaw's Return: The Sorceror's Stone
by WorldWyrm
Summary: Set in Harry's first year, this story tries to look at things through the Ravenclaw side. Mostly OOC. Rated for safety.
1. All Aboard the Hogwarts Express!

_**TERRORISTS, LUNATICS, ROCKERS AND MORE, OH MY! W**__**HAT ON EARTH IS HOGWARTS COMING TO? **_

In a bathroom stall by the Hogwarts boarding platform, a swarthy, dark-skinned child in a brown Islamic robe was making one last check of his possessions before the train arrived, mentally jotting down the items in his large, black, shoulder bag. As he started to rummage through its miscellaneous items, he saw his spare robes, his books, his wand, a small but bulging bag filled with galleons, some other stuff, and the prize and joy of his life, his- HOLY CRAP OF ALLAH! "WHERE THE FLYING FUCK IS MY C6!"

He quickly went through his bag again. Nope, no bag of C6. Shit, this could suck balls… If one of them set it off… He forcibly repressed a shudder and stuffed everything back inside, while cursing in ways he hadn't known he could.

Thankfully, nobody heard him cursing inside the magically soundproofed stall. But he burst out into and out of the bathroom screaming, shocking some of the people who had their robes down to relieve their bladders. Once outside though, there wasn't enough room to run around through the huge body press of hundreds of children and parents waiting for the Hogwarts Express with too much luggage.

"Think rationally", he muttered to himself under his breath. "It can't have gone all that far." Then he heard a slightly higher voice shout from behind him "OH MY GOD! WE'RE ALL GONNA- ahem, has anyone lost a large box of explosives?" He repeated the question several times, as he struggled to make himself heard.

The Arab turned around sharply and he pushed his way through the throng of people, apologizing as he went, he heard some people call at him from behind as he upset their little carts of luggage. Sheesh, people brought a lot of useless junk with them.

"Hey watch it!"

What was that for?"

"Aw screw you!"

Finally, he reached the relative comfort of the guy waving the sack like a lunatic. "Don't do that!" he screamed in response to his most prized possession being tossed around like a rag doll. The guy just put it down and shrugged.

"These yours?" he asked dryly. "You shouldn't leave things like this lying around. Most of the people here wouldn't have recognized it." he continued without waiting for a reply.

With a closer look, he guessed the guy was from the Middle East, being dark skinned and wearing a billowing robe. He also had a carry-on bag draped over his shoulder that seemed to carry several small nations inside. His eyes were pale grey though, and the C6… it didn't seem out of place with the guy. Was he a terrorist or somethin'?

He raised his hand in greeting. "Name's Daniel Ackren. Danny for short. Nice ta' meet cha." he said, with a grin.

The other kid looked at him slowly, sizing him up. Danny knew what a mess he must look like. Ripped and baggy jeans, maybe two inches taller, a black t-shirt that proclaimed in burning red letters "Anthems of the Damned-World Tour Genesis", knee-high dragon-skin boots, "Jeez, the poor kid must think I'm some kind of lunatic." I do wish I could've brushed my hair though. His hair was completely in bangs, and it almost covered his black eyes.

With a slow nod of his head, the other child met his hand. "Juhziz," he said curtly. "Rodall Juhziz". Then with a smile that spread across his face, "Rodall _Demo_ Juhziz".

"Whatever you say pal" he laughed as they walked towards the boarding platforms. "So, wanna get some food? Train won't be coming 'til a half hour later." Rodall shrugged but blithely added "I don't have all that much money though."

Daniel abruptly stopped and his face frowned in an expression of confusion. "Huh? Wait, but I thought… Hold on, are you a pure-blood or what?" Rodall's face frowned back. "I… guess… It's kinda complicated. You see, I lived with a tribe of nomads called the Khakari north of Chitral." Seeing the confused look of Danny's face he added helpfully "That's in Pakistan by the border of Uzbekistan." It didn't help, and he could've been speaking dragon as far as he was concerned, but he politely motioned for him to continue.

"We were an animist tribe, but we all did magic. The only thing is, even though we were technically magical, we didn't take galleons or nothing. Gold couldn't buy you yak shit where we were from. And hey, yak shit is pretty useful stuff. You dropped it to make a trail, and you could follow it for miles." Seeing the sly smile on his listener's face, he slapped him across the face.

"But seriously, he continued, nobody else came since if someone saw you and didn't know you, they got suspicious fast. And in the mountains, you might not find him for a year, and god knows who they might've talked to after you had finally found them." Danny frowned again and asked, quite reasonably, "So how did you get accepted into Hogwarts then? I mean, normally Hogwarts only sends out letters to people who have some relations to England."

"My parents." Juhziz muttered bitterly. "I was born here, and then we came back for something, dunno what." "So where _are_ your-…" He took a look at Rodall's face, frozen in a wince. "Ooh, sorry mate, touchy subject, my bad." Then he brightened and continued on "So where'd you get the money you do have?"

Glad for a change in the topic, the Arab boy saw no choice but to say the truth as delicately as possible. "I blew up a Muggle bank, killed five people who were in my way with my hunting knife, stole thousands of pounds worth in gold, sold it in Knocturn Alley for a pretty penny, and then hid in Diagon Alley away from the police for three days. That's all I can say without indicting myself to the Ministry of Magic"

The silence that emanated from Daniel could've been heard over a pissed-off Norwegian Ridgeback in heat (Or unheard). "Um, wow… My aunt and uncle just gave me fifty galleons and called it a day…" Looking for yet another change in topic, he blurted out, "By the way, did you hear? The "Boy-Who-Lived" is coming with us to Hogwarts."

He only shrugged as a response. Obviously he didn't know who the hell that was, and he evidently didn't care. "Oh come on mate! You know, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Death Eaters, Potters, and-"

His rambling tirade was interrupted by the double-blast of the two horns on a huge, bright red train with the words _Hogwarts Express_ written in green cursive letters on every cabin. "Oh! Well, come on mate, let's get go get some decent seats." He picked up his one luggage with a good show of grunting and moaning. He was bustled and pushed by the crowd as they too rushed forward so they could be first on when the train rolled to a stop.

"Magical expansion charm, my aunt did it", he said with a sigh. "Go on without me, just save me some seats." Juhziz rushed forward to reach the door, and he managed to slide into a seat in the middle of their section. Looking around, the furniture was decorated with comfort in mind, with magically softened cushions, magically expanded luggage storage areas, and a warm color design. He hefted his luggage over his head, and reclined into beige colored bliss under a sign that read Cabin 58.

A few moments later though, Daniel reached his cabin, his face pale and sweating, and his luggage moaning and howling behind him. "Jesus Christus on a pogo stick! I think she compressed a goddamn troll into there!" He just dropped it and pushed it underneath the table. The suitcase kept moaning and howling though, so he kicked it, hard. That shut it up, but the cabin started to creak under its weight. They hurriedly shifted it out into the aisle.

Before they could relax, they heard a scampering of feet and a distinct "OW!" They snapped around from their peaceful daydream to see a young Asian girl lying over Danny's luggage rubbing her head. "What frickin all son-of-a-b-" She turned around to see both of the boys staring at her. "Oh, this is _your _luggage." She bowed and continued, "Please accept my humble apologies even though you were being an utter fricker by shoving your f-ing luggage in my path."

Coming from anyone else, the different tones in the statement would've pointed to bipolar disorder. But coming from her, it sounded natural, even normal.

"Don't I know this girl?" Danny thought to himself silently. "Black hair, blue highlights, black eyes, a little shorter than me… I know I've seen her before… just where? Ah well, maybe, maybe not." But it nagged at the back of his head. "And your name is…?"

"Kaitlin Ku-" It was like a light bulb started flashing over his head. "Kusagawa. Kaitlin Kusagawa, and daughter of the Japanese ambassador to Great Britain. You made the _Guardian_yesterday," he said with a smug grin that said Gotcha! in big, flashing, neon letters. "Something like "Daughter of Japanese Ambassador Goes to Mysterious Private School."

Goddamnit, was there always going to be someone who recognized them? I'd even gone to the trouble of getting highlights for this. "I see you have recognized me, but could you please stfu and move in? Normally I wouldn't stoop as to sit with you, but," she shuddered," all the other seats other have lechers who are staring at me, or utter creeps like the guy behind me."

They all turned to look, and he was rather scary, Juhziz thought to himself. He was writing on a small notebook frantically on his knees, and every few seconds he would toss a page to his side onto a small pile, or pick one up from there and scribble something down. He was wearing a plain white shirt over his jeans, and he had two bulges in his pockets that seemed enlarged against his gaunt and skeletal frame. He kept mumbling to himself, and what they could make out was spoken in an icy calm tone.

But his face… His hair was black, and rumbled in bangs. His eyes were wide open and looked curious, but still managed to pierce through you without even looking at you. Around them were huge eye bags that seemed to go all the way down to his cheeks. He had seen faces like that before, in Knockturn Alley. It was the face of a poisoner, the kind of person who did everything for knowledge, not to actually kill.

He had seen the face on a man in a street corner, his eyes practically on fire with intelligence and curiosity. He had been peddling little potions, and when nobody would take one, he shrugged, wrote on a note card "If found dead, please do not take to St. Mungo's. Recipe for poison is" and after that there was something scribbled out. He had taken a bottle, quaffed it in one, and began to take notes on its effects, even as he had thrown up and bled onto the street.

Rodall snapped himself out of his reverie and looked at Daniel. He appeared to be staring out into space, slack-jawed, until he followed his gaze and watched it lead to Kaitlin's face. Oh god, please tell me he wasn't in- "Hey Juhziz?" came the whispered voice from his right. "I think I'm in love". Oh damnit! This is going to suck balls!

"So, do you mind if I sit here or what?" Before the obviously love struck Daniel could reply, Juhziz spoke "Sure. By the way, who _is_ that guy?" A cold voice drifted in from behind her and said "Mackenzie Strife, not really a pleasure to meet you," turning back to his notes.

"An utter-"Kaitlin started, before the voice interrupted again and finished "creep. Or an utter freak. I'm not quite sure which one. A 78 chance its creep though." The girl was struck dumb; her most eloquent thought coming out was "I WAS going to say that. How did he know I would say that?" "Psych profiles. Plus I have very good hearing." He shrugged and continued to look around.

Her face practically fuming, she turned to face him

Before things could get any worse when they stepped to face him, a sneering voice could be heard from a few cabins back, "Really _Potter_, you should be more careful who you hang around." Then a more shaky voice also from there replying, "I'm sure _Malfoy_" Then a laugh as a blond youth started walking towards them, but then the kid they were facing turned around and stood up to meet him with a piece of paper in hand.

"You would be Draco Malfoy, first name Draco, last name Malfoy, middle name Lucian, blood type AB, born in 1989, born in Capricorn, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy?" he rattled off his list. Before Malfoy could open his mouth to reply, he continued from a different piece of paper. "Treated for clinical depression at St. Mungo's magically, when you were seven, greatest fear; Gall Sharks, personality type; cocky, over -confident git," he heard a few snickers coming from behind Draco, "Hobbies; annoying and antagonizing others, family history; Slytherin, drug/alcohol abuse; once, with muggle marijuana, final notes; annoying bastard." He frowned. "I know I didn't write _that_. I wouldn't have put it so politely." He looked up to see Draco reddening. "Is any of this wrong by any chance?" he added in the same calm tone that had infuriated us.

There, that'll teach the cocky git a lesson. Still, I wonder who wrote that there. Maybe Mad-Eye. He was the one who tried to bring in his dad, wasn't he? Probably shouldn't have let him see my files. No matter, but hmm, what's this? The two goons by his side, they appear to be moving for me. The fat one punched me on my upper bicep, muscle density of approximately 143 pps, fairly impressive for someone his age.

Now the other one is grabbing my arms from behind me, I do not appear to be able to shake him off, estimated weight of at least 138 pounds, the other one has punched me four inches above my kidney, and ruptured two bones, probably ribs, and their leader is coming closer. The blood damage appears to be minor, with only three major vessels damaged, will likely heal in two to three days. Intense pain appears to be filtering through my nerves, possibly my arm is damaged as well. Will need further observation.

From the side, Daniel watched as Malfoy pointed at Mackenzie and his two goons marched forward. As the first one punched at him, he merely raised his arm to block, but then the other one came in from behind him and grabbed both of them. Then the first one brought his fist back and connected, hard with Mackenzie's body, and he heard a definite crack, as he started coughing up blood. Malfoy started walking towards him, like he had actually beaten him. "Well, he said smiling, any last words?"

Still smirking, Mackenzie answered, "Yes, can someone please find my Crabbe and Goyle index? It should be in the Malfoy section, under servants." When nobody moved, he continued, "I just need you to write down under Crabbe VI muscle density of 143 pps and under Goyle write under the weight category 138 pounds est."

Before Daniel could stop her, Kaitlin jumped up and practically screamed. "Oh for freak's sake, what has he done to you?" "Well, well, well, what have we here?"It was only at that point she realized that she might've done something wrong. Everyone was staring at her, even Mackenzie and his captor, with a demented smile on his face. Gulping down fear and as bravely as she could she said, "Kaitlin, Kai-". Mackenzie was slowly bending his right knee while raising his right foot and she looked at him quizzically. Was he trying to tell her something?

With a fake air of exasperation Malfoy sighed. "Last name please?" "It's Kaitlin Ku-" She was cut short by a blood-curling cry from her right. She looked, and it was Goyle screaming behind her. Mackenzie had apparently heeled him in his crotch, and as he pulled his leg out, he pulled both of the lumps from his pockets. Two flashes of silver gleamed out, and Crabbe unconsciously took a step back.

Apparently they were throwing knives, the kind that has the blade curved to one side, and the end of the blade serves as the guard. Nonetheless, they were extremely effective in melee, as she had seen her father's collection of them before. Her brain managed to process all of this before Goyle stopped screaming and collapsed to the floor.

In one swift motion, even as he disengaged his leg from Goyle's, he slammed the hilt of his right knife into Crabbe's chin as well as passing him and slamming into Malfoy. Before he could react, he moved his left knife up to his throat with a sadistic smile.

"Kusagawa. Kaitlin Kusagawa," He finished, "Well, well, well, Malfoy, what have we here?" Standing up and sheathing his right knife, he drawled "I'd kill you, but that would be messy and you're right in front of my cabin. Dead guys decompose remarkably quickly."

He stepped back and appeared to be putting away his left knife, but without warning he slammed it down over Crabbe's prone body with sudden violence. A collective gasp rose from his audience, but the blade bounced away dully from his body.

Laughing out loud he picked up the dagger and stared at the fading blue outline on it. It danced like fire, flickering all along the blade and ending at the haft. The color seemed to fade in some spots, only to rise again in another. Finally, the flames died down and he slotted it back into his belt.

"Cassandra charm", he explained, "couldn't cut bread like this." Sitting back down, he pulled out a vial of yellowish fluid, with the consistency of honey. He swished it around a few times and prepared to remove the stopper, when he noticed that neither Crabbe, Goyle, nor Malfoy had gotten up yet.

Sighing out loud, he passed the flask over to them. "Here, drink this. I'm not going to spend the first year of Hogwarts in detention." He leaned back into his seat, his face a mask of perfect tranquility.

It was a girl named Parvati Patail who first noticed it. She was sitting in front of him, and had been staring at him along with the rest of the first years. At first it was only a small patch, but then it began to spread all over his shirt. Combined with the shock of everything else that had happened on the train, it was too much for her. She shrieked, pointing at his shirt. Blood was leaking out, spewing forward and staining it. Then she promptly fainted.

When she had screamed, the first one to respond was Mackenzie himself. His gaze sank, and then turned to the bottle of healing potion. However, the three of them had long since finished it. He tried in vain to wipe some of the blood off, but it had seeped into his shirt.

Staring at his shirt, he sighed again and sank down even further. The pain burned at him, but it was bearable. But oh god, how it hurt! It seeped through every fiber of his boy, burning like an open flame. He could feel himself starting to lose consciousness. But before he fell into blissful oblivion, he managed to say, as calmly as he could, "Damnit. I think I'm going to die." He slumped down, his head falling to the side and onto the aisle.

Daniel had been watching the whole scene from the side. When he saw him fall to the ground, and watch the rest of the train file in to watch, the first thought that came to him was "This is gonna be one hell of a school year. One hell of a year indeed." _God, how did I even get here?_ He thought about it or a while before shrugging and stepping aside for the bystanders. He was going to be ok, wasn't he?

He couldn't have known it, but inside Hogwarts Castle, someone else was saying that exact thing, but with a decidedly different look on their face.

"Did you say something to me?" A tall man, with greasy hair and a hawked nose asked contemptuously. All this mumbling was making him uneasy.

"No." The voice said timidly.

"Good. Then may I suggest that you don't imply it… Professor Quirrel."

If he had turned around, he would've seen an unholy smile stretch across Quirrel's face. "Oh yes Snape, one hell of a year indeed."

* * *

A/N: So, how did you like it? I know the chapter seems a little short, but I just wanted it to act as an intro without the intro being 5 words long. 


	2. Trauma Center!

_**TRAUMA CENTER- DYING, DEAD, AND COMATOSE**_

The first thing he saw when he regained consciousness was a pair of redheads standing over him prodding him with a wand. The two guys looked like twins, and were talking in hushed tones to the rest of the people surrounding him. He couldn't make out what they were saying though. Must be my ears, he thought. His eyes were hazy too, and his vision kept shifting. He simply closed his eyes and waited for them to naturalize.

The first thing he heard when his ears had recovered was, "Is he still alive?" A girl's voice, maybe the same one that had seen my shirt stains.

"Well, of course he is!" came from somewhere to his left.

"The real question is why no one got the teachers," the same voice, but from his right. What the hell?

"Or the prefects." Back from his left.

"Or the head boy." Now back to the right.

Then in the same voice, but much more pompous and bossy, and just a bit out of breath, "I'm here, I'm here, what did you want me f- OH MY GOD!"

"Yeah _Percy_, took you long enough." This time the voice was the same, but younger and not as deep. What the hell? Was he dreaming or something?

"What did he even do?" "Get punched twice by Crabbe and Goyle, save my but, knock-out both of them, and then spectacularly threaten Malfoy, before giving him a healing potion, start hemorrhaging, and faint." "Nice!" said the first two voice simultaneously.

His vision finally cleared, and he saw four redheads, all standing over him. Two of them appeared to be twins, while the third was an older student, a sixth year, perhaps. The fourth one looked around is age though, and was easily the youngest of the four. Around him stood he small crowd, still staring at his wounds and whispering to their friends.

"The real question", he managed to say as calmly as he could with a huge stabbing wound in his chest, "is why none of you tried to help." That shut them up fairly quickly, with a fair number of mumblings and avoiding glances.

Seeing as how no one else had any idea of what was going on, he figured he might as well take command. "Alright, look. Draco drank the whole thing right?" He was greeted by a barrage of nods. "Good. So all we have to do is get it back out of him." He managed to say the whole thing while taking off his shirt and revealing a bony frame with a rather large red gash the size of a cupcake.

He winced as he saw it and while dropping his shirt onto the floor, but pulled out his wand from a case on his seat and tapped it once muttering something the rest of them couldn't hear. His face changed into a sigh of relief, as he proclaimed, "It's not that deep, if it was I'd be dead by now." Then he raised his wand above his discarded, blood-stained shirt and pointed to his sleeve, making three downward slashes with his wand while chanting through gritted teeth, _"__Divisio__deuxi__!"_

The sleeve seemed to reform before their eyes, first separating from the rest of it, than melting together into a pool of fabric. Finally the remains flowed like quicksilver into one thin strip, before slicing apart lengthwise. He appraised it critically, before nodding his head and tying it into one long strip.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his right knife out of its sheath and stabbed himself hard in his chest. Just before the blade connected though, the shimmering blue aura appeared, practically repulsing his dagger. Smiling, he rubbed it on his wound, and wherever his blood touched the flames, it was extinguished from the area. Before long he had coated his entire knife in blood and raised it to his chest.

Breathing deeply, he started praying to every god he knew of. "Ares, Athena, Hermes, Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, just please help m-""What are you doing?" His concentration snapped, and he lashed back out at the offending speaker, Daniel Ackren. "Mr. Ackren, if you interrupted my concentration like that while I was actually doing that, I would either have been killed or subjected to pain beyond anything you could've imagined. So, if you don't shut up, I will either kill you or have my ghost kill you," in his best sarcastic tone. Daniel chose to shut up.

Taking one last breath, he held the dagger up to his heart, and then a little to the right. He pushed it in just as Daniel screamed out, "Your chest mate!" He turned his head down to look, and in that instant, his knife wavered to the left. When it punched through his skin, he sank to his knees, and let out a blood-curling scream of agony.

"GODDAMNIT! I THOUGHT I'D TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!?" His face was inset, as if the pain had sucked all the air out of him, and the dagger was stuck firmly at the right of his chest. "What was that even for?" Daniel pointed at his chest, and that was all the needed explanation. "What was stabbing yourself even for? Huh?"

Breathing deeply, he managed to gasp out, "Pressure point." Grimacing, he whispered, "Should've deadened my chest nerves. Missed it and it triggered them. Miracle it didn't touch my heart."

"But still…" glancing down at his chest, "I can't feel anything anymore. I guess it worked." He began to take the tied together cloth and bound it around his wound. When he had finished, he tossed his shirt back on, minus a sleeve- and picked up the discarded vial at Malfoy's feet. "Now comes the fun part," he said, smiling in a way that would've made a Death Eater shudder. "Who can do a Summoning charm?" Reluctantly, and after being pushed forward by his two brothers, the oldest redhead raised his hand.

"Good. Now…" With the air of a surgeon and a torturer mixed into one, he used the same bloody knife and made a very small cut on Malfoy's hand. "Uh, Mackenzie, what are you…"

"Be quiet. Now, you said you knew how to do a Summoning charm right?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Just hold your wand so that it, the vial, and the cut are parallel. It'll flow right in."

He brought the vial up and motioned for him to perform the charm. He did it, jabbing the bottle while saying "Accio potion!" The liquid came in, with all the fluidity and viscosity of, well, blood. Only thing was, it was orange. Bright, flaming, neon, Lockhart's robes orange. He tapped it off deftly, corking the vial again. Frowning at it, he swished it around a few times before deciding that it was ready.

Oh god, hmm. This might be interesting. I know the potion's yellow and blood's red makes orange… but it shouldn't be FREAKING FLAMING NEON! Calm down, calm down, it's probably fine, and besides, I do need the extra blood. I'll probably pass out if I don't. So anyways, what's the worst that could happen… and why's everyone staring at me…oh right the potion.

Daniel stared at him for a few moments, whisking around the fluid. There's something about that, something odd, he thought. But what? He kept twirling his wand, his already high-strung nerves being accented by the pale kid screaming at him. Admittedly, it had been deserved but… The picture of him standing there, with blood all over him… red, gooey, sticky bloo- wait a minute! That's it! He snapped his head back to Mackenzie so quickly he heard a vertebrae snap. He had the bottle opened with his eyes closed and he was- No time to think! With his wand in his hand he pointed it at him and shouted the first charm that came through his mind.

"SELACIO FIALA!" A thin chain shot out of his wand and before he even looked back down, the links were shooting out at an incredible speed, and for a moment he thought of one of those cartoons where you have the camera by the object and you see the target moving in slow-mo. God I used to love those cartoons.

He was interrupted by the clanging of metal on glass as it wrapped its way around it and ended up corking it. Right before Mackenzie would've put his mouth on it, his eyes snapped open and he fixed Mackenzie with his coldest glance. "May I ask why you are preventing me from drinking this, _Danny_?"

Gulping down all his fears, he managed to chuckle. "You don't have much in the way of street smarts do you?" In the same manner that he had seen Mackenzie perform, he bowled past him without letting him speak. "Look, blood isn't actually red. It's blue before oxidizing." Mackenzie was tapping his feet impatiently, as he had obviously known that.

"At the same time, you held that bottle right up to his skin so no oxygen could get in. Also, there was an impressive amount of blood in there, and it must've driven the oxygen out. So at least _some_ of it should be blue… the only logical conclusion being that there must be something else in his blood. Something that overpowers the iron in it." Clearly everyone else was impressed. Or just bored out of their minds.

He said the spell again, and the chains receded into his wand, leaving behind speed marks on the glass. He took one deep breath and promptly started coughing. "Bloody Hades mate! Do you know what this is?!?" He simply shrugged.

He heard a female voice go in exasperation, "Please hand over the noxious substances." Then the eternally calm voice of Juhziz "Yeah, you two can have your lover's spat but…" "We'll decide, ok?"

Sighing, he handed over the bottle filled with neon orange that looked like something out of a Crayola crayon box. She took one appraising sniff from it and stood back. "It smells a little like sake, only after someone's done the traditional metal dipping. I guess it reacts with iron. And yet, a little trace of something sweet and sticky. It reminds me of the cherry blossoms in spring time, when the sake has flown, the day's catch is over, the lanterns are lit, and the sushi has been laid to eat." She heard at least one person snickering behind her.

Juhziz had a slightly more pragmatic view. "Smells like hashish, too light for opium. Definitely drugs. Probably a mixed blend too. Those get you higher, and you come down farther. Something with a drug density of at least 1 to 387 parts, doesn't seem to be crack or coke, those you inhale and forget. Besides, if he'd taken in this much, there'd be enough to kill a yeti. That leaves angel dust, speed, marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, something stupid, like glue, X, juice, mash, bangers… you know, the works." Seeing the disbelieving looks on their faces, he smugly added, "Look, the biggest crop of my people is opium. When your adopted father's job is to look into other markets, you pick up some stuff. But still… what's Malfoy doing with drugs?" he added thoughtfully.

Ackren couldn't believe the way they were talking about it.God, are they crazy? "Look at it! We're talking Denver, Colorado with Woodstock and Led Zepplin, Linkin Park, and Trapt serving as openers for the freaking Beatles! Do you realize how much pot is in there?" Calming himself down with deep breaths, he continued, "Still, you can probably drink it." He leisurely tossed it back to Mackenzie, who managed to scowl and look dignified as he held up his want and slowly levitated it down to him. Taking the bottle, he glared at him and said "Let me actually drink it this time, ok?" He just helplessly shrugged, as if it hadn't been his idea.

Mackenzie grabbed the potion with both hands, and drank it down in one, the potion's excess leaking out. "You know, I feel pretty-"

First went his eyes, snapping wide open and not moving. Then his heart stopped beating, as his body righted itself into a rigid sitting position. His blood went too, all the red veins going blue, as the oxygen was forcibly expunged from his body. If he hadn't looked like he was about to face Hades, he would've looked like a victim of frostbite.

Danny was looking with wide eyes open, Juhziz was silently mouthing his name over and over, and all the rest were either screaming or in a state of shock. Oh crap, please don't let him be dead! She raced over to Juhziz and slapped him in his face, hard. He rubbed it with his right hand, where she had left a red mark, but he didn't seem to have noticed. This was going to take drastic measures. God, please forgive me. Grabbing his robe collars, she forced him to face her.

"Allah will kill you. You will go to hell. You and your explosives. How dare you support the infidels? Join us, and we have many uses for you." That seemed to work, as he shook his head vigorously, as if to dispel the demons that lurked within. "Oh my god. Jesus Christ, how long have I been sitting there?"

"He might've been a Middle-Eastern prodigy, but he's dead, contrary to muggle belief. And not that long, I snapped you out of it fairly quickly. Look, I'm going to get a teacher or an adult, just heal him as best you can until then." With that, she pushed her way down the hallway, searching for anyone who had the slightest inkling on what to do.

Back at the carriage, Juhziz had his wand out and was waving it around in a shape of a diamond overlaid with a cross. "Spirit of the Earth, come to me. Spirit of the Wind lead me. Spirit of the Water help me. And Spirit of the Fire… join me! Help me in my darkest hour! _Dures__Elcatre__ Dryad_" The magical spirits had been the basis of his magical training as a youth, and most Middle-Eastern magic was based on them. Slowly, the four of them came out, first the spirit of Earth, which chose to manifest itself as a miniaturized drake. Awestruck, he watched it as it breathed a slow lazy flame on the unconscious kid, and everyone else. Wherever the flame landed, their wounds seemed to slow, and their worries washed away. Even as he stared at it, he could feel his fears disappearing, the terrorists were gone, and they won't be coming back, Kaitlin was just using them to- wait… how does she know about them? And he felt a twinge of unease the flames could do nothing for.

Its purpose served, it vanished, with a small sparkle. Next came the Jinn, or spirit of wind and he uttered the necessary incantations. This time it chose to become a gust of wind, fleeting but with all the joy of life. As it moved across Mackenzie's body, he saw him start to stir, and a smile rose across his face but he wiped it off quickly. The hard part had yet to begin. Dreading the result, he started the incantation for Undine, spirit of water. "_Dures__Elcatre__ Undine!_" She appeared as a small globe of water, and as they all watched her transform to a small sapphire floating above him. It gave off light, and a sense of comfort. He practically basked in it, and Mackenzie's face seemed to return a bit to normal, at least what counted as normal with him anyway.

Then Salamander came out, sensing the movement of three of its brethren, without being called for. It took the shape of a phoenix, and it seemed to burn the very air when it spoke. "For what purpose hath thee called us forth?" Gulping down all his fears, all is worries he faced the spirit with all his courage. Without this going well, Mackenzie would still die.

"Mighty lord of flame, I called thee to aid me. I ask for your help to bring forth Shadow, Luna, Shade, and Wisp, greater spirits of dark and light. I need you to help me bring them forth. For without them, my friend shall die." The phoenix duly nodded, as if he had heard it a million times before. Which he probably had, but still… "I hear your cause, and I do respect you for it. I shall join you and be one with you that you may see their glory for the first time. But are you willing to pay the price? For to save his life, I require compensation. Of your life."

For the second time he gulped. "I am."

_It was fall, and the leaves were starting to come down, and one child was sitting with his teacher, as they talked among the leaves. __"__N__o__w young one, never forget. All the spirits require compensation, __the more __minor the act__ preformed, the less they need. But some of them, the more violent and destructive ones, will take someone else__'__s life. __The spirits __are willing to help, but they need energy and sacrifice to actually __perform__ the tasks. To save a dying man, you must give life yourself.__"_

_"__But, __teacher,__ does that mean we shouldn__'__t save others then?__"__ His face was wide open, with all the innocence of youth, a sharp contrast to the bearded and graying man with a pair of glasses on his face._

_"__No, it doesn__'__t. T__h__ey do not have the chance to save themselves, so __others__ must help them. We can save ourselves, but they cannot. They do not have the privilege of summoning and healing, so we give our lives so that they may live. If nothing else, remember that young one.__"__ The little boy sat there, just thinking about what he had said for a few moments. Then he thought to himself. If ever there should come a time when someone else is dying, I will give my life to save theirs.__Of course__ he was just a little kid, and had no idea whatsoever what he was going to get himself into. _

"Very well then." The bird flew into him, colliding with his soul, and sparks visible only to him shot out as the blue of the spirit clashed with the red of his soul. "_LET ME IN!__"__ It screamed in pain. __"__Your soul is trying to reject me. Just relax.__"_Juhziz nodded, and took a deep breath. Almost as if he had inhaled it, the spirit started to flow into his body.

Oh my god that hurts! It feels like… well, what it's supposed to feel like! My teacher had told me it would be painful… but nothing like this! Alright, deep breaths, deep breaths. But wow, at the same time, I feel like I'm high on something. He practically felt the phoenix smiling. "_Yes, it does feel odd doesn__'__t it?__ And oh yeah, don__'__t look in a mirror right now.__"__ W__h__y not? __"__Um, __your eyes__. They__'__re glowing blue.__"__ If it was possible for a __millennia__-old spirit to feel __embarrassed__, this was the time. WHAT?!? __"__Blue. I mean, if you want, I can do other colors, but the only one that doesn__'__t have the side effect of your eyes exploding is yellow.__"__ Blue is fine__…_

_So, uh yeah.__ Are you inside me right now? Or is this like possession? __"__Possession.__ Most spirits can do this to varying degrees.__"_

_All right__, let__'__s get down to business. What do I have to do to do __this?__"__I__'__ll move your hands and everything, you just have to comply. A__n__d try not to space out.__"__ Sure, can__'__t be that h__ard. _He heard it chuckle for a while. _What__'__s so funny? __"__Trust me, this is __gonna__ be like nothing you have ever seen. Now, first of all we need blood.__"__ Huh? __"__Blood.__ Trust me, Shadow takes the shape of a vampire, Luna__'__s a __were__-wolf, and Shade took his shape from a frigging Yu-__Gi__-Oh! __C__ard! W__i__sp is still a classic floating skull though.__"__Riiight__ So, where do I get blood? _

He felt his limbs moving without him doing anything, and he wasn't sure if he liked the sensation. _Hey, hey, what__'__re you doing? __"__Getting blood of course.__ This k__id always carries blood on him.__"__ And how the hell do you know that exactly. And who is __"__this kid__"__ anyways? _The phoenix let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like "meep!" and with my hand pointed at … Mackenzie Strife?!? "Why the hell does he have blood on him?" Then he realized that he'd said it out loud, and then something that sounded like "meep meep!" When he realized that everyone was staring at him, he snapped back, "Hey, real men sheep say meep!"

The phoenix just sniggered, and went through his bag, before pulling out two vials. One was human blood, red, while the other was blue-green, and seemed to swirl in the bottle. _Ah, here we go! Finest quality blood, two vials, one human, probably his, and one__…__ oh interesting__…__ I haven__'__t seen yeti__'__s blood in a while__…_"Let's just do this thing." _Right, what do I have to do? Just leave it to me little one. _He dropped the bottle of yeti's blood, and watched the fluid scatter around the broken glass. He waved his wand, and it formed into the shape of a circle, inside a triangle that together with a triangle inside the circle, made a triforce.

Then, slowly but steadily, the blood rose, until it made a three dimensional shape. "Uh, mate? You sure you know what you're doing?" _Trust me. I__'__ve been doing this since some idiot mage realized that you could get a spirit to help you summon a spirit.__ Bloody __fooking__eight__ year old summoned Dryad to summon Undine to summon me to summon frigging __Asaka__! Lucky he didn__'__t get killed._

Then it started. The blood exploded outwards, and from it, only the small ball remained until it too was slowly compressed, until it too imploded, and in its place was a giant black hole, taller than him and wider than their cabin. _Be brave. For therein lies the real journey._

_Uh, __you__ want __me__ to go into there?!? _He almost managed to get annoyed, before the hole started shrinking until it was the size of a man. Then someone walked through it… or something. It was dressed in a black tuxedo, with the pants, red tie, black gold necklace of a teardrop, and a frigging carnation lapel as well. His hair was slicked back underneath a black fedora with its brim down, and I couldn't see his face since he walked out of it with his head bent down. As he walked out of it, the hole closed behind him, and he reclined against the wall with one leg across the other. With his right hand , he tipped his hat at us, and said "Hey Sal! Haven't seen you in a while. How's Hell?" And then he smiled. It would've been really, really cool, if he hadn't started floating at that moment, and his hat hadn't fallen off as he started scrambling to get back down.

That's when I got a look at his face. It was pale. Like Mackenzie on steroids pale. And red eyes. Like bloodshot Mackenzie eyes on steroids red. And as for his teeth… let's just say that it makes Mackenzie's knives look short. Then I realized how much in common these two had. _The gay couple from Hell__…_Then the phoenix mentally started baring its fangs. _He__'__s from the 8__th__ plane. __O__f __Niflheim__ I, for one resent the __disparaging "__Hell__"__ comment.__ I live in Hell, to be precise 666__th__ Road, __Asmodeus__ Drive, Apartment 66. _

"Jeez, are you even going to answer me? Look, I apologize for accidentally blowing up your home alright? Still, just stop glaring at me like that. How was I supposed to know that opening a canister of oxygen would blow it up?" That didn't seem to reassure the phoenix, and I could see it screeching at him.

"Look, my name's Juhziz, and we brought you here to help us, alright? Just tell me what's wrong with him, and how to fix it." The spirit looked down at him and laughed. "Oh that? He just ingested some Draught of Eternal Sleep mixed with muggle narcotics. Marijuana to be precise." If this statement was meant to impress Juhziz, it failed miserably. "And just how do you suggest that we try to cure him?"

The smile vanished from his face like someone had slapped him. "Well, uh, potions were never my forte. I suppose you could try giving him a potion of awakening mixed with Bane's root for sobering but… yeah. Just stall until you get to Hogwarts. They should have someone there who's a med-wizard. I think he was called Snape? Utter git, but still… guy knows his shit. And if I'm not mistaken, Madam Pomfrey is still the nurse. He'll be fine, "he said as he waved his hand dismissively. Then, he paused as if he had just realized something. "Oh… if he survives until then that is!" Laughing maniacally, he walked straight through the wall he had been leaning on and vanished with a pop.

_Great, just great, what do we do now? Um, I suppose we could just stop, but he seemed like he knew he wouldn__'__t survive.__ Think, think, __think__! What can we do?_ He started banging his arm against the compartment walls. "Damnit! It's all my fault! Why didn't I see this coming? Why-" _ENOUGH__S__top complaining! No, if they __can__'__ t__ save him__…__ then we__'__ll just go straight to the top. Helios __Megiste__, Lord of Time and Space.__ And technically, he__'__ll take lives or large quantities of blood. _"You'd better be bloody sure about this", he warned. "Because normally it's not a great idea to be messing around with the primal powers." _You're the__ one who want s this, not me, alright?_

While all that had been going on, Kaitlin had been racing through the train. And you'd be surprised how much snogging, yelling, and over all noise there was.

"I'm sorry, but I'm kind of in a rush!" she shouted as she knocked over somebody's toad.

"Trevor! Trevor, get back- ow!" The boy had jumped to catch the toad, but instead caught somebody's skirt from which a foot appeared and proceeded to kick him in the face. "Gerroff me! Bloody f-ing all pervs!"

Then in the next cabin, somebody kept whistling at her, and whenever she turned around to face them, the whistling stopped and the entire section was obviously trying to hold back laughter. "When, I get back here…" she warned, "I am going to hex the hell out of all of you. So cheers!" and she continued running past the cabins. By the time she'd made it to the front of the train to where the teachers were, she had threatened 4 cabins, hexed 2, yelled at 7, and got yelled at by 26 of them. She was exhausted, panting, pissed off, and was in the realization that there were only the prefects and the Head Couple.

Still gasping for air, she managed to get out, "Dying person, section 8, kid called Mackenzie A. Strife, drank a potion and something else, is in a coma, hurry up and help." As they ran past her, one of them stopped at her. "Hey, are you coming or what?" She flashed her best smile at him and replied, "In a minute. And when I do, I'm cheating. To hell with the rules." He nodded dully and continued on with the rest of them. _Idiots.__ It__'__s what, a mile, half a mile? No, there are easier ways of doing this._ And with that, she pulled out her wand and muttered, "Kwai Feng!"

All of a sudden, the wind started blowing inside the cabin, and her feet lifted off the ground and onto a platform of air. If she had been able to see it, she would've seen a triangle, with the back of it rippled like a bomber. She only moved an inch up, but she gingerly reached down to touch the floor. "Good enough I guess…" With that she pushed off, and the wind propelled her down the hallway, racing to get to Mackenzie before it was too late.

A/N: Well, I hoped you liked it. If any of you were wondering, all the things that Juhziz lists are pretty much UK slang for their more common names. Trauma Center is the name of a medical game that was fucking hard and I still haven't beaten after over 2 years playing it. The spirits are somewhat ripped off of the Mana games, and Salamander is supposed to be an orb of fire. The spirits also don't really have genders, so I made some male, some female, and some are its. Salamander's remark about where he lives; Niflheim is the Norse/Celtic version of Hell, only it's frozen. The planes are from Dante's 9 planes. Asmodeus is the name of the boss demon from D&D. Helios Megiste is I believe Sun+ an island off the coast of Greece. Together, they make the name of a Yu-Gi-Oh card that I thought was really funny looking. Besides, I can't exactly use Dialga and Polkia, can I? Oh yeah, Kwai Feng is supposed to be Quai Feng which literally translates into Mandarin Chinese "Fast Wind." I know most of the spells are done in Latin, but I figured that every culture had to have its wizards, and not all of them spoke Latin. Plus, some of the cultural references might be a bit off.


	3. Deal With the Devil

_**DEAL WITH THE DEVIL**_

_"Are you __positive_ you've got everything?" asked Juhziz for the fifth time. He was standing over a complex penetacle, outlined in a circle, with runes on the outside, and written in blood. He was quite frankly nervous, and like any sane person about to face one of the primal forces would be. However, Salamader was every bit as nervous, having left his body to expect the writing himself._If all went right, Mackenzie would be saved, the train would be safe, and nobody would be worried. However, if all went wrong… well, it wasn't worth worrying over. We would all be dead by that point._

___"And more importantly, that symbol looks just __a little__like the symbol for Iblis. Is this safe?" __Shut it will you? This is kinda important. And to be precise, that symbol has been used by summoners for thousands of years. A bunch of power hungry lunatics watched a couple of summoners set this baby up, and get blown away by _Helios Megiste._ Then, they used _Helios_ aka Iblis as a rallying banner to set up Islam. Not that I could blame them.__P__ower drives men crazy. And women, since I have accused of being sexist__…__ by people who probably wouldn__'__t go to heaven for their treatment of women. I mean, come on! This is polygamy __we__'__re talking about __here!_

_____"__Riiii_ght... Next thing, you'll be telling me that the Bible really was printed by God, and that he created the world in 7 days, that Dubya really is the "Great Satan", and that UFOs really did land at Roswell." _Um, uh__…__I understand that your beliefs are rather fragile, so I won__'__t speak without proof. So__…__ uh__…__ yeah. _

_______Let__'__s see, where should I start? Well, first of all, I was actually there, so I can say with conviction__…__ the being you guys call __"__God__"__ is really the patron spirit of Jesus Christ, the Middle-Eastern prodigy. Y__'__see, __every now and then a spirit chooses a baby to protect. T__h__e more powerful the spirit, the less often this happens. Jesus was trying to spread peace, so _God, aka Zeratul, Lord of Chaos and Balance, aka Polaris the North Star, Light of the Realms _mind controlled a poor sucker __without and ounce of talent __to __print this so-called _Bible_ to help him promote peace. _

_______Unfortunately, he later ended up doing the same for Moses,Mohammed, and the Buddah. So then they got in a big ol__'__ fight over who was right. Only, they were all right so they were incapable of proving the others wrong. But get this. The guy who originally printed the Bible? Leonardo DaVinci! Only thing was, at that point he was a frigging idiot. But, enough of Polaris__'__s light stayed in that head to make him a damn genius!_ "I don't want to hear any more." Juhziz mumbled in a monotone. "The historical weight of the world lies on my shoulders. I refuse to be incriminated in the greatest scam the world has seen since Hollywood and Ian Flemning started bllshitting about spies."

_______Aw, cheer up pardner! You__'__ve been reading too many John Grishams. __Oh, and did you know, Ian Flemning was a wizard who enchanted his books to be more readable? Yeah, no other way his _hack author novels _woulda sold__.Cheer up! Its like Santa Claus. There are somethings that you have to hear are true at __some__ point in your life._ He emphasized the last part with a good bit of beak poking.

_____It took a few moments for what he had said to sink in, as he had been dully nodding his head. Then, the outburst, "OH MY GOD, THERE REALLY __IS_ A **SANTA CLAUS**?!? HOW DEEP DOES THIS CONSPIRACY GO??? DOES IT EVEN END? Is the Pope really a _WIZARD_?? Are all Chinese genetically modified super-soldiers?? IS STAR TREK REAL???" The potential consequences of said Santa being real were shattering to his little world, especially considering that he had used up most of his cognitive abilities just a few years ago deducing that there _wasn__'__t_ a Santa Claus. Then he realized that his outburst had been extremely loud, and the entire train was probably staring at him right now.

_____"Sorry, just going insane over here. Carry on." He said in his best projecting yet soft voice. They did continue with what they had done before with a few knowing knods, mainly staring at him. A highly amused pheonix murmered in his ear __Yes, pretty damn deep, not that I know of, not this one, the last one was though. T__h__e Chinese haven__'__t been genetically modified since the _Gang of Four_ was disbanded in the 70__'__s, and even then only the taxi drivers.Finally, only _Next Gen_ is real. That I know of. Or that I believe. Or hopefully, since you have know idea how embaressing it was when our ambassador ala Kirk kept shagging the local hot stuff. Got them declared persona non grata couple of times.__ At least with Riker we could claim that we knew nothing of his__…__ habits._

_____"I know nothing of this!" Juhziz hissed. "Let's get back to work." He quickly brushed the memories from his mind. Santa Claus? Star Trek? The pope? The realization that there was still a lot of stuff that he hadn't known had hit him, hard. No matter what though, there was going to be something else to learn, but still… the realization had left him feeling empty, like a dwarf in a giant's body. And underneath the tranquil surface, it frightened him. A whole new world, a whole new set of people to be navigated, charted, and avoided. He had never felt so __different_. So _foreign._ Everybody else seems to avoid me, giving me looks behind my back. Making comments where they think I can't hear them… ever since he had come to Britain. Everybody else was comfortable there, and him… It was like going to Mars, and finding out that you have nothing in common with the people there.

_____Alright__, I__'__ll tell you the rest later. Back to work._ With that, the mocking laughter disappeared as quickly as it had come. _Now, all that__'__s left for you to do is to memorize the words, which even though are fairly long, shouldn__'__t be that bad._ "Hold on a sec, aren't you going to be saying them with me? Because I'm no good under pressure." _Helios resides in a land where no spirit can reach him. In other words, I can__'__t directly bring him here. And two, if you just repeat what I say, it__'__s no good. Summoning is a very precise art and requires total silence.__ The last guy who tried to summon him__…__ well, what he summoned wasn__'__t all that different, just a greater hell-beast. Took half of Iran to get __it back under control.__ Anyways, now repeat after me. Dures Elcatre Helios Megiste! I, Juhziz bind thee to me. By the name of those who reside above in Heaven and Hell, by the force of the eternal vow made in millenia past, by the honor which __I__ do swear on my clan, come forth! _And so on it went, driling it into his mind to the point where he could've recited it in his sleep.

_______All right, let__'__s fucking __do__ this! _"Jeez, chill. This is potentially the biggest event of my life, and you've started getting hyper about this!" But underneath the facade, he was afraid. This is the biggest thing that's ever happened to me… what happens if I screw up? Not only will Mackenzie die, but so will everybody else! And Kaitlin, she trusted me to keep him alive! And Mackenzie himself… I can't do this! I fucking can't do this! I mean, if I mess up, should I mess up, because I know I'm going to mess up, and-_Shut up, now. It snarled at him fiercely. T__h__e time when you had any choice in this has long passed. T__h__is is no longer your life, but Mackenzie__'__s. N__o__w grow a fucking spine and let__'__s do this! _

_____It does have a point… but no, I can't do this! I can't, I just can't! I'm going to mess up, and, "I JUST CA-"_

_____"Yes you can." Juhziz turned his head to see Daniel grabbing his shoulder. "You're the only one who can do this. And more importantly, you have the raw ability to do it. We know it, Kaitlin knows it, Salamander knows it, and Mackenzie knows it."_

_____"Yes I may have the basic ability," Juhziz grudgingly admitted, "But…" "But nothing. How is this any different than all of the other spirits. Just because it's older, and more powerful, and could potentially blow most of England into itsy-bitsy pieces," he admitted, "doesn't mean you shouldn't try."_

_____"Fine. Just fine. " Without any further words, he walked over and vertically dropped his wand onto the center of the pentagram. The wand landed head first on it, and balanced on the wood paneling. Then, the floor rippled like a drop of rain touching water, as the wand started sinking into the floor. When the wand had fully disappeared, Daniel looked quizzically at him. "Are you sur-" Suddenly, a great gust of wind blew in from the circle, and knocked him to the wall behind him where he let out a scream. Juhziz however, was ready, and he dropped down into a crouch letting the wind go over him._

_____"Danny!" he shouted, "Are you ok mate?" But as quickly as the wind had started, it vanished, and when he looked back at the circle, a small ball of light was floating inside it. It didn't have a mouth, but he heard it speak clearly in some language to Salamander, who was looking extremely ashamed. Then it turned on Rodall. "Who are you? Why have you called me here?" The voice seemed to penetrate through him, and he found it hard to even look at the light._

_____He tried to speak, but he found that his mouth wouldn't make any noise. He decided to wait for it to finish talking. "Answer me!" But he continued to refuse to say anything. "I said ANSWER ME!" With those last words, flames shot out of it, and leapt around it, before shooting outwards. However, light shot out of the circle, and held the fire. Still, Juhziz could feel part of himself being tugged in to maintain, and for the first time he felt a sense of emanating power and fury._

_____Seeing no other option, he turned to it and started the ritual. "I am Rodall Juhziz, heir to the Wazir clan to bind thee to me by the force of the ancient vow made in ages past. Heed my call, and bend to my will. I am Rodall Juhziz, and I shall not be denied." Even as he spoke those words, a thin chain wrapped itself around the light, which expanded into a human shape, but made entirely out of light and with its features erased. It was only about as tall as him, but somehow it seemed much more threatening than the ball._

_______Well, if that__'__s the way you want it, thought the spirit, fine by me._ "I have many names, Polaris, Allah, God, Satan, Iblis, and Zeratul, but I am Helios Megiste since the tides of time. I who rule through time and space, who are you that dares to ask of me?" it said in a stylized response as old as time itself. It was one it had repeated many, many times before.

_____"I am Rodall Juhziz, and by the honor of my ancestors, those who made this vow in ancient times past, harken to me. Spirit of my clan, spirit of my land, spirit of our world, I call thee to me. Heed my call, and bend to my will. I am Rodall Juhziz, I will not be denied." Again the chain rose and finished wrapping his leg, before he finished speaking. And then Helios replied in turn, the two of them acting out roles set for them centuries ago._

_____"As one who came before, as one who answered the call, I am bound to this vow. However, who are you, to call upon me? I am one of the ancients, those who have served for all the others, as steward, guardian, and blade. My name is Helios Megiste, and I will not be chained." __There, just have to get him to slip up__…__ then POW! God, I haven__'__t had human flesh in so long.__ I wonder what he tastes like__…_

_____"I am Rodall Juhziz, he who has come before, and he who shall come again. By the ties that bind me to thee, and thee to me, I call upon thee. Let me take of your will and streng-." "Gotcha!" the spirit interrupted him in triumph. He looked at the light, which was crouched down and pointing to the circle with its one free hand. Juhziz walked over to the circle, and indeed the rune that had been drawn was slightly chipped. "And you know what that means don't you?"_

_____He looked up with an expression of genuine fear on his face. He gulped loudly while staring at the light, whose wicked grin was starting to form on its face. "-strength. I am Rodall Juhziz, I will not be-." "Too late!" screamed the spirit, and indeed the chains that moved around its arm were thinning, and the extensions were growing smaller and smaller. It pointed its fingers at the small patch of light shooting up from the circle that was slightly darker, and a small red spark shot out of them and shattered the barrier in that section. Laughing maniacally, it walked over to Juhziz and raised its fist._

_____Well, if I'm going to go down in history as the guy who managed to destroy Britain before he turned twelve, I might as well go fighting. Or at least, that's what he kept thinking to himself. In reality, he was quaking in his sandals, as the light came forward. Come on Juhziz, now or never, let's do this before we're all dead! At the same time his inner voice of sanity was screaming Juhziz! Fucking run! Fucking now!_

_____"I will not be denied." He finished, in an attempt to stop the advancing figure. The chains now covered all of his arm, but he didn't seem to have any problems moving it. It brought his fist back in a mass of lightning, and he closed his eyes, as if it could avert his death before it was too late. Then, there was darkness. And blood dropping to the floor around him._

_____He tentatively opened his eyes, but all he could see was a mass of red. Then, "Juhziz, finish the ritual!" He looked up, and he saw Helios Megiste being attacked by a flying bird. It was going for his eyes, and when the light managed to grab him, it would dissolve into acid that burned its skin. Mentally thanking him, he continued, "I-I-I am R-R-Rodall Juhziz, and by the p-power of Heaven, Hell, and all that lies between, I b-b-beseech of you! Grant me your will so that I may end my j-journey of pain. I am Rodall Juhziz, and I will not be denied." He stammered it out, all while watching the colliding light of red and yellow._

_____The chains widened, and it seemed for a moment like it would hold it. Then, screaming in agony, it roared at him, "THAT IS IT! I AM HELIOS MEGISTE AND I WILL NOT DIE!" The light dissolved back into the ball, which the chains quickly closed upon. However, it soon started trembling and shaking, like a miniature earthquake, and the ball grew bigger and bigger._

_____All of a sudden, the chains snapped as the light exploded into a million pieces, each of them floating and grinning at Juhziz. He glanced around frantically, but the chains were lying in little segments across the room. "Now, now, that wasn't very nice," they said in a flat monotone. "You deserve what's coming to you. After all, it's partially your fault that this guy's almost dead." Then the voice changed to a pompous sneer. "You didn't help him did you? You didn't help Daniel did you? In fact, you've barely done anything at all!" But when they turned to look closely at Juhziz, they saw him muttering to himself. In an unanimous metallic screech they yelled at him, "What are you doing? Answer me! Answer us! I demand it!"_

_____But by the time that they finished, Juhziz brought his head up in a grin that stretched from ear to ear. "That's game mate." With a look of horror on their faces, they rushed at him, screaming, "No, __no, NO!__"_ It was a terrible sight, thousands of tiny pieces of light, sharp as a blade, coming at him, all of them bent on killing him.But he kept smiling and only spoke one simple sentence. "Dures Elcatre!" From his point of view, it looked like nothing less than a laser light show. It was one of those effects where everything starts moving in slow-mo, and with the adrenaline pumping, you can see every single one of them.

_____But as quickly as they had come, the shards started flying backwards, until they all reached the center of the summoning circle, where light flashed, and it reverted back into its normal form eagle-spread. However, before it could get up, Juhziz waved his hand and 5 spears made of some mystical and warped metal materialized above it, two of them landing on his hands, two on his feet, and one that went straight through his forehead. But where there would be blood, there was only darkness. When it screamed, Juhziz just airily brushed it off. "Come on, it's not so bad. After all, you don't seem to object to doing it to others."_

_____As he waved his hand back, the chains flew around it and completely wrapped it in metal. "Alright, alright, I give. What do you want?" Simple, thought Juhziz. "Just for you to stop time for this guy." He nudged Mackenzie with his foot. "He'll die if you don't." The spirit burst out into uncontrollable laughter. "Oh man, that is just __good!_ I mean seriously-," "I'm serious." The mask of laughter on its face dissolved, and in its place was the same unfeeling give-nothing, take-nothing mask that Mackenzie had been wearing.

_____"Hmm, I don't really know if I can do that," it said thoughtfully, "I mean, I'm only an aspect, plus if I messed it up, I'd kill him." "But you have to try! It's his only chance!" And if he dies… It'll be all my fault!_

_____"Well, the problem with that is… say, how long until the train reaches Hogwarts?" __Three hours, give or take an hour or so._ They all turned to see the calm face of Salamander. _Look, all we have to do is to get the healers waiting for him. Get __Snape__ to brew some kind of miracle potion, and have him meet us at the front._ He rushed into Juhziz's body, and called out, "Oy! Who has an owl on them?" Several students raised their hand, and he yelled at one of them to send an owl telling Snape what sort of potion he should bring to him.

_______Good Lord of Hades, this had better work__, he thought in silence. _It was most unlike him, but his easy going warmth had been chilled by the gravity of the situation. Plus, Helios Megiste had almost killed him one of those times he had gone for the eyes.

_____"Chill, Sal, aren't you normally the hyperactive one?" "__Uh huh, and this is coming from the __"__I can__'__t do it!__"__"__I can__'__t take the pressure!__"__"__He__'__s __gonna__ die!__"__and __"__T__h__ey trusted in me! I can__'__t do it!__"__guy__? I think not.__"_ But still… it was unsettling. Now, how to break it to all of them that Juhziz was going to die for saving Mackenzie's life… this'll be fun. Not.

_____Meanwhile, one highly ecstatic Kaitlin Kusagawa was holding on to the front edge of her little surfboard and riding the wind over their heads as she tilted the edge upwards and started rising in height. "YEAH! This rocks! I don't have to worry about knocking them over or anything, and- oh look! It's the poor sucker prefects!" As she flew directly over their heads, she waved at them, while they looked at her like she was some kind of maniac. Which she might've easily been, since she was high on speed wobble._

_____All right Kaitlin, get it together. You're almost there, don't want them to think you're an idiot. But as soon as she had turned around to look at the fading prefects, she failed to notice that this section had a slightly lowered divider, and she crashed into it at high speed, her board dissipating flung her through the crowd, tumbling all the way to where Helios was still pinned down, Sal in the form of an enormous phoenix on Juhziz's shoulder, and Juhziz were sitting, where she landed head first. "Oh, my apologies, but- Hey Juhziz?" He turned to acknowledge her and she couldn't help but notice what she had seen on the way in. "You've got glowing eyes. Blue glowing eyes."_

_____He sighed, and motioned for her to come. He then looked back at Sal, who was visible to only him, perched on his shoulder. "Well, a rupee for your thoughts, Sal?" The majestic phoenix slowly shifted its body to stare at him. "Um Sal? What are you doing?"_

_____"You're going to die." "… Besides the obvious, what else do you have to say?" The morbid statement hadn't made much of an impression on him, apparently he'd seen it coming. Nice to see someone who had an idea of the consequences nowadays. "Well, your friends'll take it pretty badly if I may say so myself. " He waved the idea away with a stroke of his hand. "It's no big deal. I die, everybody else goes away happy. Everybody wins. Now, Helios. What exactly __can_ you do?" Sal merely sighed.

_____Seeing as how he wasn't really listening, he slid over to Kaitlin in human form. "Hey." She looked at him with surprise, almost like she hadn't seen him… oh right, she hadn't. He'd been too busy possessing Juhziz. "W-w-what the hell are you?" She took a moment to compose herself, and hastily added, "I apologize, I merely lost composure. Again, I apologize. It was entirely my fault and I resolve you from any blame."_

_____"Look, Kat, Kait, or whatever your name is, and that's not really important right now, but Juhziz is going to kill himself when this is all over." She frowned, then shrugged. "If he wishes for the solace of eternal sleep, then who am I to deny him that comfort? Oh, and it's Kait."_

_____Mentally cursing, he tried to make her understand. Why was it always the thick-headed moral ones he ended up doing this to? "No, he's not going to kill himself, he's doing it as a sacrifice. You see that guy made up of light?" She nodded, as it had been visible to the entire room. "Well, it's Helios Megiste, and in exchange for saving Mackenzie's life, he'll take Juhziz's life. Don't you get it?!?"_

_____Kaitlin just sighed back. "Look, I do not know if you know this, but we have this saying, an eye for an eye.. It basically means that if you have something done to you, you return the act. I believe the same principle applies to spirits as well. You see, in exchange for services rendered, you must give payment, equal to the service provided. If Helios Megiste will save his life, then we cannot act against it."_

_____Before Sal could ream her ears out, Juhziz turned to him. "Hey, Sal? We've come to a conclusion. It'll slow time for him, which should last until we get to Hogwarts. Then I'll give whatever payment it deems necessary, alright?"_

_____Gnashing his teeth in fury, Sal let out an exasperated yell. "Uh, Sal? Sal? What are you doing? Salamander, speak to me!" He heard the flame being start to weep, and turned back to Helios. "Alright, let's get this show on the fucking road!" "Spirits, you're starting to sound like Sal!" It shot back. "Just chill out, alright? But first, let me fucking out!" Juhziz sheepishly waved both of his hands, and the spears disappeared, and the chains, while not completely leaving gave him enough leeway to kneel over Mackenzie._

_____Holding both of its hands together over his body, it whispered a few things to itself, before its hands started glowing blue. Looking rather smug, it pushed its hands to both sides, and covered Mackenzie's body with the same blue glow. Ignoring the confused looks, it whispered something else, and Mackenzie's body started floating, as it stared at him, sweat forming on his bwow. But without any more warning, it smashed both of its fists together, and as if he had punched it, a crater formed underneath Mackenzie's body with a sickening crunch, while his body sank like a stone._

_____As it fell, a green light expanded from his body, and the spirit started sweating heavily as it fought to control the sphere. It was pale green in color, but there were cracks all around it as it pushed the air and everything else near it away. Wherever it touched Mackenzie's body, it hissed and smoked, before the smoke was expelled. Sweating heavily to maintain the field, it pushed its fists even harder together, and the light cushioned his body from the fall, and it lifted him up as it grew. When it covered his entire body, Helios separated its fists with a ripping noise, and let out a primal yell of triumph._

_____"Gotcha! Nasty little bugger. Frigging time-space continuum wouldn't warp." Wiping the sweat from its forehead, it turned around to look at Juhziz. He was nodding his head, so it reclined its head, and set down to sleep. At the same time, Salamander was watching from besides Kaitlin. Utter bastard, he thought, it can't be allowed to do this!_

_____A/N: Please review! I don't really care if you flame me or if it's just a few words, it's nice to know that someone read it and thought it was of enough import to write a review. Anyway, next chapter will feature the explanation of Mackenzie's sick and twisted mind, some minor foreshadowing, and overall filler.  
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	4. A Sadist Born and Raised

_**A SADIST BORN AND RAISED**_

The next part of that train ride was a quiet one. The rest of the train had returned to their seats, while Juhziz was staring at Mackenzie like he was the reincarnation of Mohammed, Helios Megiste was sleeping, Daniel was still slumped over unconscious since Juhziz had instructed them to not wake him up, Sal was compressed into a small orb of flame on top of Helios, and Kaitlin was in some sort of yoga pose and seemed to be at utter peace. However, underneath the tranquility was a snake's bed of conflicting thoughts and interests

Why does he have to die? a small voice nagged at the back of her head. It is the only way. A service rendered must be repaid, and that is what the whole principle of Objectivism is based on, answered the devil's advocate. Yes, but he's saving someone else's life! screamed her conscience. And who asked him? You did, the cynic pointed out. "ARGH! JUST SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" she screamed out loud. "IT'S HIS RIGHT TO CHOOSE!" The rest of the train refused to meet her eyes, thankfully, and she dropped back down in embarrassment to continue arguing it out with her inner mind.

Gods, why did you do that? It came from somewhere between her sense of embarrassment and her dignity. Stress, alright? I have you guys, screaming at each other like we're in some sort of university debate club. No scratch that, it's like we're in the freaking yakuza or something. And we're not? a small nagging voice at the back of her head asked? I mean, it's only your dad I guess…

Looking for something, anything to distract her mind, she felt herself staring at Mackenzie's body. Then, it happened. She felt her mind lifting from her physical body, and she looked back, but for a moment she could see her physical body. Oh, my god, not again! I-I-I-, stop, please stop! She felt herself being forced into his body, and she could feel him turning in pain. She looked around, to survey her surroundings. It was different for everyone, with buildings and such representing memories, but the overall look was based off of their memories. His was a run-down slovenly city, with the taller cleaner buildings in the background rising above everything else.

Gods, I should get out _now_, she thought, before musing. I really do wonder what goes on in there though… and with that she turned into his memory, mainly the first building she saw. The most prominent ones were of a white girl, about 18 years old with blue highlights, black hair, and a slim figure popping bubblegum. She shifted a bit deeper by talking to the people there that were his supporting memories, and soon discovered that her name was Marlene.

Hmm, nice enough name, she thought to herself, but why's she here? Did he have a crush on her… no, he's not that type. But what's with the buildings? They look like an old slum. She exited the building, and almost promptly tripped over a small metal bar. "Ow!" she screamed, rubbing her head for good measure. But she soon forgot about whatever physical injury she might have suffered as she noticed that the bar was in fact a handle made of solid ivory, and definitely lead to something.

"Now, I wonder what this is? Well, Mackenzie hasn't told me to get out yet… might as well make myself as home." Such was the deluded reasoning that she used to disguise the sheer amounts of curiosity. "But I wonder… what has happened to Mackenzie horrible enough to be sealed away?" She bent down and gingerly touched the bar, but was flung back by a brief shock of electricity. Grimacing and cursing with pain, she pulled off her cloak and wrapped it around her hands.

"Come on, come on!" she muttered to herself. Pulling with all her strength, she didn't manage to lift it in the slightest. But unknown to her, a tremor of pain was running through Mackenzie's body, and he didn't like the feeling.

Outside of his body, Juhziz was still staring at Mackenzie's body. His breathing had slowed, but his chest was still visibly moving, and as long as it was, he'd probably survive. All of a sudden, his peaceful reverie was disturbed by Mackenzie. He was yelling at the top of his lung, with the sound being slurred by the field. "AAHH! OOH GGGOD! SSTTTOPP IIIT! PPLEEASSE!" The sound was slurred like an old soundtrack being played in slow motion, and Mackenzie must've noticed as his eyes then snapped open, and he realized he was inside a giant green bubble.

Flexing his arms and fingers, he looked at all of it with nothing more than abstract curiosity. Turning his head around, he promptly noticed that he was floating several feet from the air and started screaming again.

From his side, Helios had been awakened by his loud screaming, and was holding his fists together to try to maintain the field. It was cracking in a dozen places, and smoke was drifting off the edges. "Make the sob fall asleep! I can't hold it while he's awake!" But it proved to be unnecessary, as moments after wards, his appendages snapped rigidly back together and he stopped speaking. "What the….?"

Rodall walked over, an image of confusion on his face. "Holy… Helios, you gotta see this." It stalked over dully and gasped. "Holy shit on a pogo stick! What happened to his eyes?!?" Indeed, his eyes were quite damaged. They were both rotated half-way around, and you could see the blood vessels being stretched, and the retina was clearly visible through a thin glazed film.

Back inside his mind, Kaitlin was still trying to figure out how to open the trapdoor. Even while using her cloak as leverage, she still didn't have enough strength to open it, in his mind she didn't have her wand, and there were none of his memories to help her out. If she had one that related to whatever was in there… hey, speaking of people? Where was everyone?

Almost on cue, two daggers came speeding out from the shadows, cutting through the back of her shoulder. As she spun to face the source, another pair of daggers came from behind her, barely grazing over her head and surely would've killed her had she not tripped on a rock. Then from above, which she barely dodged by rolling to her right. All in all, one of the better mental defenses she had seen. Hell, probably the best. The speed at which the knives went, the disappearing of the thrower, the varied angels… this is going to suck, isn't it?

"Show yourself!" she shouted into the darkness, it echoing from every building and alleyway. A sinister laugh came from her left, and she turned to see a young man standing there. He was wearing a black cowboy hat with little sequins along the outside, with his black hair in ponytail and a black bandanna that served as a mask to accent the most intense pair of eyes she had ever seen. They weren't friendly or scary, just sizing you up like the calm before the storm. Weird as hell. The boots were also odd, black leather going all the way up to his thighs. Black denim jeans, black leather sleeveless vest, tight black shirt, black leather knife holster… the poster child for emo rockers everywhere. Hell, did they even make black leather magically? The only thing that wasn't black was his skin, which was pale. Well, they didn't really get any sun in their minds.

"Who the hell are you?" she blurted out. "Their mental defenses are supposed to look and resemble the individual of which they defend. You have almost no resemblance to him whatsoever."

The figure just laughed. "My name is Mallous. No, I'm not his mental defenses, these are," He said, patting the knives fondly. She twirled around in disbelief, only to realize that the knives sticking out of the ground a minute ago were gone. "I just convinced it we would do better together. As for the other questions… let's just say that if I told you that I would have to really try to kill you, instead of just fooling around like now. But, suffice it to say that I am part of Mackenzie." Watching the stunned look on her face, he snapped. "Oh not like that! I'm not his father or his lover and neither of us are gay. I'm part of his mind, not an alter-ego or a split-personality, or something like that. What a cliché that would be. No, I'm more of a hitch-hiker who happens to be stuck in his mind."

"Uh huh, and you're a five hundred year old spirit who got suckered into this whole affair entirely unwillingly by being tricked." She said it with as much sarcasm as possible, but to her surprise he started blushing.

"Hey, I'm not that old! Just four hundred eighty-seven… angel's years… and I'm just vain alright? Fine, I admit it, I'm vain. And it was an honest mistake that anyone could've made. Look, I lived in a very isolated corner. Nobody told me Lucifer was rebelling!" Shaking his head, he twirled both of the knives in his hands before throwing them at Kaitlin.

"What was that for!?!" she yelled as she ducked to avoid them. They vanished once again, and he appeared on top of a building by throwing them back at her. "It's fun! Come on, have some fun!" Then he jumped down, the two knives molding into one extremely long whip. It lashed to her side, and she easily dodged it, but as she tried to run away, she came face to face with the head of the whip. Literally. It was a snake, and as it brushed past her it bit a chunk out of her shoulder. She fell down to the ground screaming, and the snake withdrew into a normal whip.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR M-? Mackenzie?" And indeed it was, instead of Mallous in the black leather, Mackenzie was standing there with a sadistic smile on his face. "It's fun! Try it, _bitch_!" While the flesh fell on the floor and the wound bled, she could feel her memories, her thoughts leaving her, and accumulating into his. Not the most pleasant feeling, but she doubted he would even notice in the coma. After wards was none of her business.

Wow, she thought to herself, I can rationalize even when he's about to attack me. Atta- Oh crap, crap, crap! What do I… Then, as if by magic, the adrenaline started flowing, and the pain vanished. She could feel her senses improving, catching every last detail. Her body was moving faster, even faster than the normal effects of adrenaline, and every inch of her was telling her that she could do this… she could do this! But she forced herself to relax, and wait for him to make the first move.

Like he could read her mind, he held his whip up in the air, and the metallic hilt dissolved, and oozed its way across the whip. The whip segmented, with a spike on each segment, and a larger segment and spike starting from the handle. With successive clinks, the plates overlapped onto each other, forming a spiked sword which was slightly curved to accommodate the segments.

Pointing the tip straight at her, he grabbed the hilt with both hands, and swung the blade horizontally. Normally it would never have reached her, but then the segments detached, leaving the metal spikes being connected by the leather whip still inside the sword. It took her by surprise, and the first of several spikes buried itself in her side, not having been swung with enough force to thoroughly disembowel her. Nevertheless, it hurt like hell, was enough to drop her to the floor as he pulled it back, and each successively larger spike cut through her when they withdrew.

She couldn't die of blood-loss here, and it wouldn't affect her physical condition either here or when she left, but if she died here… and goddamnit, she didn't have enough time to concentrate on getting out! Think, how do I get out? Think! _THINK!_

"Heh heh, having fun now, slut? Come on and die already! Gods you bleed a lot. I can't even drink it while I'm in here. So die!" Then he started laughing. It was the sickest laugh she had ever heard, but she didn't have time to reflect on it, as she was trying too hard to stay a step away from the dangerously pointed edge of Mackenzie's blade. Left, right, above, right, the sword moved too fast for her to think about anything else. However, as he suddenly rushed forward right after a slash, with the blade retracting as he ran, she saw an opening to attack. When he reached her, he ducked below her hasty kick and brought the sword up to cut her in half vertically. As the blade was about to slam between the off-balanced girl's legs, she brought her right foot up, and slammed it into his sword hand.

The force of kick made him drop the blade, but when she tried to catch the falling sword she over-extended herself and fell from trying to hold a grip on the sword. When she hit the ground and saw him standing over her, she acted instinctively and slashed the blade upwards. It was heavy, and the grip was too big for her, but the movement took him by surprise and managed to slice straight through his left arm when he raised it to block.

It hung limply from his side, and blood gushed out of it while it held on by a few pieces of skin. He didn't seem to be in pain though, and started laughing again. "Excuse me, but I just kicked your ass! What the hell are you doing?" It only seemed to encourage him, and soon he was rolling over in hysterics.

But a curious thing happened while he laughed. His hand stopped bleeding, and if she hadn't known better she would've sworn that his hand was stitching itself together. But that was impossible… wasn't it? "I don't think you get it… inside here I rule supreme! By the way… what was that little trick you used? Savate or akido, judo would've been a grab… so what was it? No matter, you're still not that good at it… bitch!"

Without further ado, he raised his left hand up and pointed at the sword in her hands. She was so focused on hearing what he was saying, she didn't even realize that the metal was melting off the whip. It was only when it covered her hands that she realized that her hands were stuck together. "Ah! Oh-!" _OH CRAP!_

Rushing right at her, he materialized the original whip, when suddenly he vanished, along with the whips and the metal goop covering her hands. Without waiting for an explanation, she skipped backward without waiting for an explanation, she started scanning the surrounding area. Last time it had happened, she had a gash in her side to remind her about it.

What she saw was Mallous, rubbing his head, propped up against a wall. "Oh gods… what happened?" Looking around spasmodically until his gaze finally settled on Kaitlin, and the cuts on her. "Oh crap… I'm so sorry…" It was no use, and she was backing up from him. "Wait! Please… I can explain!" Waving his hand like a flag, he futilely waved to her, trying to stop her from leaving. She only stared at him, and broke into a run to get away.

"Look, it's not Mackenzie's fault! I just haven't had anyone to talk to…" he cried out softly. "Oh, gee, I wonder who's fault _that_ is. Maybe because you just tried to kill me! And what do you mean it's not Mackenzie's fault! He tried to kill me too!" she screamed in a burst of hysterics.

"Well," said Mallous finally having a topic that he understood, "Mackenzie's personality has over the years adapted to the constant struggles by forming several different distinct personalities that only come out when they're needed. In the meantime, they spend their time in here. I was called away because Mackenzie has a lack of inborn curiosity, and I get stuck with that job as he was in the process of observing something new, but his main personality, the original iceman returns to a different area, and when the pain started- oh right, you can't feel it in here, he couldn't deal with it so he called up the sadist inside of him. After he wasn't needed, he returned to my spot, but I wasn't called back since his mind was still running… but the pain resumed _with_ the sadist there, so he'll be there until the pain stops."

To Kaitlin, the past 10 minutes had made no sense whatsoever, and this last moment had made even less sense. "So… this individual suffers from multiple personality disorder? That is perfectly acceptable, but why does the sadist hate me so much?" There, that should shut him up for a few moments while I get the hell outa Tokyo.

But Mallous was not deterred. Walking towards her, he lightly commented, "Simple, all of his personalities are anchored in the same things. He has a Galtea complex, but since you resemble Marlene to him, he sees you as living perfection, and can't stand that. So he tries to kill you to turn you into nonliving perfection, which he can then turn into living perfection. Along the way, your resemblance to Marlene triggers what passes for a paternal instinct in him, and he refuses to let one of his perfect creations get destroyed. However, he's had some bad experiences in the past with Ligilimens, and you have something that resembles that, so he desperately wants to kill you, but his current philosophy of the week is applied ethics, and according to Nietzsche and Confucius he should have acceptance and not try to kill you, but last week was a Machiavellian approach, and that tells him he should kill you before you find out enough to blackmail him or expose a vulnerability since what you're doing is technically illegal, and he could legally kill you. Ergo, he wants to kill you, part of him wants to save you, he resents €what you can do, ethically he shouldn't, but under the grounds of applied force, he can and will kill you. The whole kill instinct wins out."

"You know, he pondered philosophically, it's a wonder he's still sane. On second thought, I'm not sure he's still sane. Maybe I should ask him?" Without further concern, he began writing something in the dirt with a long finger, and it vanished immediately after being written. A few moments later, writing appeared to replace it, and Mallous started nodding his head. "Yeah that'd make sense… so he _is_ technically sane."

The image of Mackenzie being sane was funny enough, that with the adrenaline wearing off, and the euphoria and endorphins kicking in, she started laughing out-loud. "Jesus, what are you guys? Psychologists?" Mallous looked deeply offended, and replied with a hint of indignation, "Yes, yes we are. And what are you, a diplomat or something?"

"Why yes, I am, as a matter of fact. Daughter of one." She replied haughtily. "It's a noble profession, and in Japan diplomats and other public officials are respected." The last statement was made with more than a little bit of pride, but Mallous didn't seem to care. In fact, he was looking very thoughtful. "Diplomat… anyone I know?"

Snorting out loud, she gave a small laugh, no doubt supposed to say no, but he pressed forward. "Come on, I know most of the big ones… Osiris, son of Ramses, Kurosaki, son of emperor Yamato, Apollo, messenger to the gods, the works."

This only caused to make her go into another bout of laughter, all while Mallous looked extremely upset. "S-Sorr-ry," she spluttered, "Y-you're a-a-a f-few hundred y-years off."

Chortling softly, he replied with an unabashed grin, "Hey, the Hawk didn't really let me out all that much." However, no sooner had he finished that statement then his eyes flashed gray and he snapped to as if he had said something wrong. Whatever her other faults might be, Kaitlin wasn't an idiot, and she noticed. "Who exactly is the Hawk?" she asked suspiciously.

As if someone had pulled a switch, he went tight-lipped. Literally. Without moving his lips, he managed to say in a clear, concise voice, "Forget about the Hawk. Please. Please, forget and I might be able to let you live. Can you please forget? Please?"

There was something about his voice, pleading and at the same time harsh, that served to propel her sense of curiosity. "Not until you answer my-." His palm shot up, and she didn't see it stab her in the stomach, but as soon as she felt the pain, her adrenaline kicked in, and in perfect color memory she saw his hand move into her intestines.

"Missed." he remarked casually, in the same tone of voice that a normal man would use to describe the weather. "Approximately .32 millimeters to the right and you'd be bleeding and vomiting all over the place. I don't know what that would've done to his psych, but it probably would've hurt like hell. If only you hadn't turned." Then he vanished again, and in the next instant she felt two knives sink into her back.

They were comprised of his memories, his memories of pain, hatred, and everything that had ever wronged him compressed into a second of pain beyond belief. She could see it, flashes of red light, a man with a stiletto, a patch of flesh slowly dying on him, then they faded to be replaced by another memory of pain and fear. But even as she felt his memories, she could fell her memories being sucked out, then copied and replaced into some random order, making no sense whatsoever.

It took a few moments for her mind to rearrange her memories, but by then the knives had disappeared and Mallous was perched on a building ledge with both of them embedded in his right arm. Oh crap! If that was a mental probe then… he's reading my frigging mind! Crap… get out of here! While you still can… she dispiritedly thought to herself.

After a few more moments, Mallous stood up, apparently having finished filing through the mental contents of her mind. He had a frown on his face, and he didn't look happy. Crap! Come one, come on! But the mental portal that she had entered through refused to open, probably because of Mallous. It was like the door had been unlocked, but the exit was jammed.

Pulling out the knives, he shoved them roughly into the building he was on, and she tensed her body for the slightest trace of movement. But he leaned back, and she breathed a sigh of relief without realizing it.

That was her mistake, and as soon as she loosened her muscles, he vanished again and grabbed her by the back of her neck, easily lifting her off the ground. "Did you forget who the Hawk is yet?" he breathed into the base of her neck. Squirming, she managed to reply with his hand choking her larynx. "Not until you tell me who the hell the Hawk is!" Oh god, well, I've had a nice life. And for a final act of defiance it was pretty good. I wish I hadn't died on a train though. More specifically, inside Mackenzie's body. They can't burn and bury me on my dying place this way. That kinda sucks. No matter, she thought and she loosened her body to prepare for death.

But to her surprise, he let go of her and sighed out loud. "Thank Merlin that you forgot. Hell, you didn't know in the first place." Kaitlin gave him a strange look, before snapping her fingers. Evidently he had chosen to interpret what she had said as loosely as possible. Thank gods for small miracles.

While massaging life back into her neck, she turned to look at Mallous. He looked highly embarrassed, and extremely apologetic. It was almost cute, like a giant dog attacking you one moment and then licking your face in shame the next. But still, if the dog killed you, it didn't have your face to lick in shame.

"Oi, tell you wha'. Wanna go down to 'he inna' sanc'um? 'Cuz I ain't hafta be nowhere for a while. Me gots 'plenty o' time mate." He had descended into a Cockney accent, and he kept shuffling around while he talked, evidently embarrassed.

Still, the inner sanctum was where the person's happiest and saddest memories were kept, and to let someone in was the equivalent of trusting them with their life, a rarely used tradition, but not an opportunity to be passed up. Besides, Mackenzie couldn't really complain, since part of him had let her in.

"Sure!" If the chance to be inside Mackenzie's mind was worth her time and effort, the chance to really see how his mind worked and to get blackmail opportunities… was just too good to miss. And hey, everyone's sanctum was different. Who knew what tidbits of Guggenheimian architecture lurked within his heavily troubled mind? So much do to, so little time, so much space to cover.

Grabbing her hand and raising it above her head, he whistled as if searching for a cab, and then the population of his mind came rushing back, along with a small pegasi pulled carriage which landed in front of them without any apparent driver.

"Where to?" came a voice, and with a start she realized that it was the horse talking. "Holy frick! The horse is talking!" It gave a deeply offended snort, and flew off again, without stopping to pick them up. Mallous just sighed, as if he had known that would happen. And it hadn't been her fault! She was honestly shocked, a trauma victim! Besides, she had never seen a talking pegasi before. That had to count for something

"Well, tat ain't nice, but we'll just hafta go the long way, mate. Up for a stroll, mate?" With that, he kneed down and jabbed his finger into the soil. For a moment, it seemed like nothing was happening, then she heard a rumbling, and another, and another after that. Soon they were coming and blurring into one rumble, and the ground itself started shaking. She could feel something moving underneath her, and all of a sudden the ground exploded, spewing up dirt into their faces.

A sign popped up, reading 'WELCOME TO THE INNER SANCTUM' in big blood red letters, a contrast to the ivory that everything else was engraved in. Now that the earth was no longer moving, she took an instant to survey her surroundings. The underground disturbance appeared to be a subway station of sorts, or at least it certainly looked like one. But the steps and the walls were made of immaculate ivory, and didn't have a single blemish on it. Back home, if a subway looked like that it was probably closed.

However, what was interesting about it was the sharp contrast it offered to the rest of the city. Whereas the main part of it was dirty, brown, and black, the tunnel was pure spotless white. Almost like a painting from a Renaissance artist, it literally projects you into the background, turning you into the painting. Quite literally in this case, but it felt so _alive_. The skyline wasn't filled, but you could see the people going along with their daily lives, talking, walking, yelling and arguing.

Almost forcibly she turned her attention back to the tunnel. In their mind, everything meant something, and a tunnel probably meant that he had spent a long amount of time underground. It was odd that a place, a byway to another place could have such grounding in his memory. And even as they walked inside, the walls filled up with posters, for old 80's movies, beer, prostitutes, and the occasional poster that looked like it had walked off the walls of the Ministry. What did that mean, he had spent a long time in the company of these posters? These ideas? These subjects? Although she viewed the third group with more than a little distaste, where the hell had Mackenzie seen them?

Further down and every bit as clean, there were small shops, selling all sorts of things, from bars and pubs to a store with a life-size model of a Cyclops with a rapidly spinning eye, and a French bakery that smelt of honey and spices across from a small store that proclaimed in glowing neon letters "Ward Security; Service with a Smile!" displayed right next to a falconry shop that had a German in military camo-gear smoking a thin toothpick-like cigarette and looking at a particularly fine specimen of a feathered drake.

After a while of going through the seemingly endless maze that was his mind, he led her to a small staircase that went above ground. The sun was shining, and with a smile on her face she breathed in the fresh air. It was like a miniature Eden, with birds, flowers, and… these short, squat, ugly, buildings. She stopped her reverie long enough to stare at Mallous questioningly. Normally the happier the memory the taller the building, but all of his buildings were short. There were also a few ruins, like the frame of a building, but without the concrete to keep it stable.

"You've noticed, haven't you?" he asked serenely, all trace of an accent gone. "You see, Mackenzie doesn't really have any happy memories per se… or at least not anymore. You see, he's never exactly had anything to be happy about… and you see the ruins?" he questioned, gesturing to the burned down hulks standing all around the garden. She dully nodded, and he smiled, continuing onwards. "Obliviated. They're some happy, some sad, but most of them are gone. Memories that were a security risk, memories that would've depressed him, all gone. But they're still here, in his psyche, just waiting for a trigger."

Suddenly, his voice froze, and when he started speaking again it was in a voice that could've frozen liquid nitrogen. "That's where you come in. You see, I've noticed you making fun of him. And he's noticed also. But he doesn't look like he really cares… but I _do_ care, and he _does_ care, deep down inside. Look, the guy's been having a hard time. So don't hurt him, even though it may seem like he doesn't care. Because if you do… I might have to pay you a little visit. _Capsice_?" His voice had lost all friendliness, and for a moment she could've sworn she saw the briefest trace of Mackenzie's face on him.

Nodding slowly, she opened her mouth to ask a question, but was abruptly cut off by Mallous in the same voice as before. "Good. Now I suggest you get out. Your _friends_, he pronounced with a sneer, will be worried. And if you stay in here much longer, they'll have a reason to be worried." Drawing a wand, he made a circular motion with it, and a small hole opened in space, swirling and twisting the air around it.

Fearing for her life, she jumped into the hole and she froze in mid-air, directly above the portal that would lead her away from the oasis of his mind, with Mallous still standing there. In the next moment, time unfroze, and she passed through it effortlessly. Outside of his mind, she could see the line of thought that connected their bodies together, and as she passed it, it rescinded, all the way to her own mind.

As she rubbed her head, her mind still spinning, she felt the train lurch to a sudden stop. Then, footsteps, getting closer all the time, and a sneering voice that brought back memories of Mallous. "So, is thi- What in the name of bloody Hades is going on?" Almost on cue, both Helios and Sal vanished with a slight pop, along with the field holding Mackenzie up.

He fell and hit the ground with a sickening crack, but he didn't seem to awaken. With that resolved, she turned to look at the speaker, and in an instant she recognized his face from the Hogwarts prospectus. Oily black hair, a hook nose, pale gray eyes, yellow teeth, the name came rushing back to her in an instant. She might not be ready, but she was always going to be prepared, goddamnit! It was Severus Snape, the potions teacher, and she raised her hand to attract his attention, but he was only staring at Mackenzie.

"Majora Andre Strife Dulcea... Oh mother of mercy, what have I done to you to deserve this?" he breathed, in a voice so soft that only Kaitlin heard him.

A/N: So, how'd you like it? I know I got the accent wrong, but I'm not really good with those. In case you didn't get it, the yakuza is the Japanese version of the Mafia.

When Mallous is explaining Mackenzie's mind to Kaitlin, he mentions the Galtea complex, Machiavelli, Fredrick Nietzsche, and Confucius. A Galtea complex is a desire to turn every non-living image you see into reality, sort of like that weird guy from the fairy-tales who becomes obsessed with trying to turn a statue of the woman he loves into reality, thereby killing the woman.

Machiavelli was an Italian military and political strategist, who wrote a number of books, most famously "The Prince", about how you should take command of a country, and use it to conquer, burn, pillage, and how to maintain your grip and crush uprisings.

Nietzsche is a German philosopher who espoused the theory that the creators should not be killed just because they create, which in turn refers that she shouldn't be killed just because she can get into his mind, and Confucius is a Chinese philosopher who has absolutely nothing to do with applied ethics, besides the fact that I couldn't think of another ethics philosopher at the time.

Next chapter will have the Sorting (bet you can't guess where they're going!), the Snape meeting, and the Slytherins getting revenge for the train incident.


End file.
